1948 - Kerry Minnear, keyboard (piano, Hammond organ, mellotron, mini-moog, the Regal) player, lead and backing vocalist, cello player, and member of the Capitol Records group Gentle Giant, is born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. There are also references to him being born on January 2, 1948. If anyone knows for sure which date is correct, please leave a comment.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
60 Years Ago Today In 1952 - Billy May (conducting his own arrangements) and His Orchestra (Tony Facciuto, Conrad Gozzo, Bob McKenzie, and Stu Williamson on trumpet, Karl De Karske, Charles Etter, Bob Raesinger, and Bob Robinson on trombone, Willie Smith and Eddie Freeman on alto saxophone, Charlie Deremoe and Joe Spang on tenor saxophone, Bob Dawes on baritone saxophone, Cliff Fishbach on piano, Ray Pohlman on guitar, Ted Hammond on bass, and Remo Belli on drums), with the vocal group The Maytimers (Willie Smith, Charles Etter, Bob McKenzie, and Ray Pohlman), record the tracks "Honest And Truly", "Gin And Tonic", "Love Is Just Around The Corner", "Easy Street" and "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano" at Capitol Records' Melrose Avenue studios in Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will issue the first and last tracks together as a single (Capitol 2054), the second and third tracks together as a single (Capitol 2157), and the fourth track as a single (Capitol 2113) with "Mayhem" (recorded on February 8, 1952) on the flipside.

1953 - Frank Sinatra has his first recording session for Capitol Records at the label's studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, although Hollywood's honorary mayor Johnny Grant is sure that Frank Sr. kept recording at Columbia's studios on Sunset Blvd. opposite what is now the Spaghetti Factory. If anyone knows for sure, please leave a comment. Sinatra was joined by Axel Stordahl who arranged the tracks with Heine Bear and also conducted the studio orchestra (Heine Beau, Leonard Hartman, Arthur "Skeets" Herfert, and Theodore Nash on reeds; Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy on trumpet; Vincent De Rosa on french horn; George Van Eps on guitar; Philip Stephens on bass; Bill Miller on piano; Ann Stockton on harp; Ray Hagan on drums; Harry Bluestone, Murray Kellner, Alex Murray, Paul Nero, Irving Prager, and Mischa Russell on violn; Paul Robyn and Dave Sterkin on viola; and Cy Bernard on cello) to record the tracks "Lean Baby", "I'm Walking Behind You", "Day In - Day Out " and "Don't Make A Beggar Of Me".

1958 - The motion picture "The Young Lions", starring Capitol Records artist Dean Martin, as well as Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, opens and makes Martin a dramatic movie star on his own right without Jerry Lewis

1963 - "Best Foot Forward", an off Broadway show starring Capitol Records artist Liza Minelli, opens. Her mother, Judy Garland, will attend the show the next night so as not to draw attention away from Liza on opening night.

1966 - The Beach Boys' Capitol Records single "Sloop John B", with "You're So Good To Me" enters Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart where it will stay for 11 weeks and peak at #3 on May 7, 1966

1973 - Apple Records releases The Beatles compilation albums "The Beatles '62-66" (aka The Red Album) and "The Beatles '67-70" (aka The Blue Album) which will be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States

1996 - Capitol Records releases Rosanne Cash's album "10 Song Demo"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY

140 Years Ago Today In 1872 - Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code and grandfather of Leila Morse (who first lit the beacon that spells out "H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D" on the top of The Capitol Tower), dies at age age 80 at his home at 5 West 22nd Street, New York, New York and is later buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York

1941 - Dr. Demento, radio disk jockey, syndicated radio show host, pop/novelty tune music historian, who gave Capitol Records artist Weird Al Yankovic his first on air appearance, is born Barrett Hansen in Minneapolis, Minnesota

1988 - Johnny Hates Jazz's Virgin Records America single "Shattered Dreams", with "My Secret Garden" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. I did the final design production on the U.S. packaging for the single, it's promotional material, and trade advertising.

1989 - Roxette's EMI America single "The Look", with "Silver Blue" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY

110 Years Ago Today In 1902 - The Electric Theatre, the first movie theater in Los Angeles, opens and charges a dime to see an hour’s worth of movies, including the films "The Capture Of The Biddle Brothers" and "New York In A Blizzard".

20 Years Ago Today In 1992 - Milton Rackmil, co-founder of Decca Records, dies in Manhattan, New York at age 86

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This blog contains information, that I gather daily, about the history of Capitol Records, related labels, The Capitol Records Tower, and other pop culture events and anniversaries.
Please contact me if you have any corrections, comments and/or facts you'd like to share.
To see some great photos of the opening of The Capitol Tower and to get a quick overview of Capitol's early history check out the archive for April 2006.

THE MELLOWAIRES?

I'm trying to track down who was in this group. They sang backup for Martha Tilton and Johnny Mercer at Capitol's first session on April 6, 1942 and at other sessions up until July 31, 1942, (the day before the recording ban went into effect) when the backed Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, Ella Mae Morse, Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting.Every listing for them just gives the group's name and, so far, none of the curators at the libraries that house the papers of Johnny Mercer, Dave Dexter, Jr., Jo Stafford and Paul Weston's collections, who really went all out to search, have been able to track down the group's roster.The Mellowaires also made two three minute "soundies" in 1942, "Cocktails For Two" with Bob Hughes and "LullabyIn Swing" on their own, copies of which are in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.Any help identifying anyone in this group would be much appreciated.